


University Challenge

by Haggis (Karen121968)



Series: Kate Stewart/Osgood [3]
Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-20
Packaged: 2019-11-15 20:20:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 21,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18080246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karen121968/pseuds/Haggis
Summary: Shenanigans at a University are serious enough for Martha to call in the big guns of UNIT





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This should make sense as a standalone, however, some of the background from my two previous Kate/Os stories may clear up some of the references in this new one :)

“I’ve checked the backgrounds of everyone Dr. Jones mentioned but we haven’t found anything suspicious yet” Osgood pushed her glasses up her nose. “It looks like we’ll have to carry on with the deep cover for a little longer”

Kate sighed but couldn’t disagree. “I know, it’s just a nuisance to have both of you stuck up there”

“I had hoped my days of living in University Halls were over, even if these are staff accommodations” Osgood sniffed. “But our team doesn’t have anyone else experienced in undercover work”

“And that’s something we can look at when you get back” Kate stifled a yawn. “Alright, carry on as you are and notify us if you find anything” she signed off the call and ran her hand through her hair. 

“There might not be anything for them to find” Shindi spoke quietly. 

“I agree if it had been anyone other than Martha Jones who alerted us I’d have put it to the bottom of the pile” Kate gestured at her desk and the precarious bundle of files.

“Let’s give them two more weeks, they should have dug up the truth by then” Shindi suggested.

“Agreed” Kate nodded and returned to sit behind her desk. “In the meantime, we should continue the drills while they’re both away”

“Ma’am” Shindi nodded and headed towards his office to organise some more snap drills for the science and military teams. He had agreed that Carter and Osgood tended to be leaders in their own areas and their absence gave everyone else a chance to practice their response while they weren’t being given orders. “Carter” Shindi answered his phone and listened to Josh’s suggestions for how they’d tackle the next couple of weeks of surveillance.


	2. Chapter 2

“I miss you too” Osgood sighed as she stretched out on the perfectly adequate bed. “If my room wasn’t on the third floor I’d suggest you sneak in a window”

Kate laughed and switched her bedside light off. “I never did the ‘abseiling from a helicopter’ course so that’s not even an option” She enjoyed hearing the snort of laughter and imagined her girlfriend in her pyjamas. “So is the Captain coping alright?” she rested her hand on the pillow beside her, where Osgood’s head would normally be.

“Apparently the floor is very comfortable with the UNIT-issue ground mat and sleeping bag” Osgood shook her head. “We still have the five-minute argument every night where I suggest he takes the bed and I offer to take the sofa” 

“He’s a good man,” Kate said quietly, knowing that she’d not been his biggest fan in the past. “How are you finding the lectures?” 

Osgood paused, this wasn’t a debrief but her partner asking how her ‘new job’ was working out. “Honestly it’s quite fun” Osgood shuffled a little to get a more comfortable position. “There are some bright students and they seem to want to listen”

“You say that now, wait until you have to mark their coursework” Kate grinned at the memories. “You go from the cool professor one minute to the crazy old lady the next”

“Well let’s keep our fingers crossed I’m not still here by then” Osgood actually crossed the fingers of her free hand before shaking her head. “This is the longest we’ve been apart,” she said quietly.

“I know” Kate tightened her hold on the empty pillow beside her. “We should take some time off together when you’re back, we can celebrate our anniversary”

“Perfect” Osgood yawned and moaned. “I’m sorry, I have an early lecture”

“That’s alright love, have sweet dreams and we’ll talk tomorrow” Kate heard the whispered acknowledgment before she ended the call.


	3. Chapter 3

“So you want me to continue to commit two people to this?” Kate asked quietly as she pinched the bridge of her nose. She was updating Martha Jones on their findings so far, which hadn’t taken long since they didn’t really have any.

“I know it seems like a longshot but my instinct tells me there is something happening to the brightest and best” Martha Jones was used to persuading powerful people to believe her but she recognised that this was a hard sell. “The two students we were working with were dedicated and believed in the work they were doing for our project, there was no reason for them to disappear”

Kate studied the face of the young woman on the screen, watching the unwavering gaze and erect posture that spoke of someone confident in what they were saying. “Osgood and Carter have both reported that the general population of students and lecturers are clear of any suspicious activity” she reported and held up her hand to stop the interruption she could see coming. “However I’ve been taking a look into the upper management of the college and there seem to be some troubling financial irregularities” she conceded.

Martha relaxed a little, she could see that Kate was taking this seriously and knew that assigning two of her top people on a hint of suspicious activity showed how much faith the highest level of UNIT still had in her personally. “So where do we go from here?” she asked.

“Well you’re still too well known on the campus to be anything but the famous Dr. Martha Jones” Kate smiled at the younger woman’s discomfiture at the notoriety. “But I think I may know someone who can take an informed look at the higher echelons”

“Who will you send?” Martha asked.

Kate shook her head and glanced at a notification that appeared on the bottom of her screen. “I’ll pretend you didn’t need to ask and we’ll report back to you by the end of this week” she signed off and put her glasses on to respond to the email she’d just received.

***************

Simon Munro squinted and tapped his forefinger against his chin. “I think the navy two-piece was a better fit” he announced after careful consideration.

Shindi sighed quietly and hoped he wasn’t going to have to rescue the young man from an eerily quiet Kate Stewart. He’d seen enough of the Brigadier in action to know that the silence and inactivity was a very bad sign. “We only have 30 minutes” he dropped into the continuing silence.

“Pack both and I’ll decide later” Kate tried to unclench her jaw, she knew she’d been grinding her teeth and that she’d have a headache as a result. “Ms. Randall?” she raised her voice to get the attention of the documents expert. “Are we done?” she spared a glance at the young man who still stood regarding her. 

“Do you have pierced ears?” he asked, completely oblivious to the mood in the room.

“Why?” Kate asked, flexing her right hand to release some tension.

“You’ll need pearls and I wanted to know what kind of earrings to match with the necklace” he shrugged as if it was obvious. As she shook her head he noticed the earrings she currently wore and nodded to himself before wandering off to the back of his side of the lab.

“Ms. Stewart,” Lianne said quietly, really hoping that she wasn’t about to make things any worse.

Kate blew out a deep breath and turned to Shindi “I need to get changed, can you meet me at the garage?”

“Ma’am” he nodded and gratefully left the two newest members of staff to the wrath of the Brigadier. He assumed that they’d learn the hard way to tread more carefully around Kate, especially when Osgood had been on assignment and away from home for three weeks.

“Right, sorry, you wanted to ask me something?” Kate distractedly shrugged out of her jacket and stepped behind a screen to change out of the skirt and blouse.

“I just needed to check your date of birth, sorry ma’am” Lianne resorted to the honorific that the military used.

“14th January 1965” Kate pulled her sweater over her head and ran her fingers through her hair. Finally decent again she stepped out from behind the screen and dumped the clothes she’d taken off on the table that contained several other outfits. Walking towards the young woman she checked her pockets for her phone and security pass. “Are we nearly done, the Colonel is keen to leave before the traffic gets too bad”

“Just printing off the last security details” Lianne waited for the printer at her side to spit out another piece of plastic. “That should be you now” she fitted the plastic card into a leather wallet that already contained identification with her photograph. 

Kate squinted at the card and identification. “Do the real Inspectors have to flash these whenever they carry out an unannounced inspection?” she didn’t think it was likely that Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Colleges would behave like cops on an American TV show.

“They are usually asked for identification before they are granted access to the site and records” Lianne confirmed. “I’ve created the background history to match your own as closely as possible” she pulled up several pages of search results for Kate’s name.

Kate leaned closer to the monitor. “So basically the ‘government contract’ excuse allows us to hide what I’ve been up to for the past ten years?” 

“It’s not too elaborate and I didn’t need to fabricate much from before you joined UNIT” Lianne had been impressed at Kate’s academic background. “Honestly, if you hadn’t been running UNIT you’d probably have ended up as an Inspector anyway” she smiled and was relieved to see Kate grin in agreement.

“Good to know the old job still comes in handy sometimes” Kate shrugged and pocketed the identification wallet. “You’ll monitor any activity if someone tries to dig any deeper?” she confirmed.

“Yes ma’am, I have an alert set to notify me if anyone gets too interested in your digital background” Lianne nodded and watched Simon packing clothes into a small case. “He just wants to make sure the clothes are right” she licked her lips, not sure how Kate would take being reminded of the recent clothing standoff.

“I know, he’s probably right but I’ve never really been a pearl and twinset kind of woman,” Kate said quietly, glancing at her watch as she turned to watch the young man. “Last time I was undercover he had me dressed in a hoodie so I should be grateful for small mercies” she winked at the young woman and strode towards the young man. “Munro, are you finished?” she asked, dropping one hand into her pocket as her phone vibrated.

“Yep, all of the clothes are in here and your jewelry is in a roll at the top” he handed her the case. “If you need anything else I can FedEx it to you overnight”

“We’re UNIT, we don’t FedEx when we have armed couriers aplenty” Kate took the case from him. “Thank you for your help” she met his eyes and waited for him to nod before heading towards the garage.


	4. Chapter 4

Shindi tried to look inconspicuous in the motorway service station coffee shop. “Perimeter check” he muttered into his sleeve as he took another sip of his awful coffee. Several voices sounded off their confirmation that there was nothing to worry him in the service station or nearby motorway. Not that he expected there to be anything halfway up a motorway in the Midlands but there was no harm in keeping the teams sharp. Looking around he blinked as he saw Kate exit the ladies toilet and stride towards him in a different outfit from the one she’d entered with.

“Vikram” Kate nodded and sat carefully to make sure she didn’t crease her skirt. “Is it worth me getting a coffee?” she asked as he still hadn’t said anything.

“Absolutely not ma’am” he shook himself. “Sorry, Kate” he corrected himself.

“Let’s get going then, sooner we get started and all that” Kate stood and walked towards the mid-size car they were using, placing her small bag into the boot. She only noticed the others getting into their cars because she knew what to look for. “Everyone ready?” she asked as Vikram settled into the driver’s seat.

Shindi blinked twice as he heard the confirmation from the support teams and pulled slowly out of the parking space. “We should be there in half an hour” he confirmed as he joined the motorway and settled between two of the support vehicles.

“Tip top” Kate muttered as she scrolled through emails and messages on her phone. “Carter knows to expect us?” she checked.

“Yes, I spoke to him earlier and asked him not to tell Osgood” Shindi confirmed that Kate’s wishes had been followed. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” he glanced at his boss and saw her look up at him.

“She’s supposed to be surprised to see an old colleague” Kate explained again. “Whereas Carter is not supposed to know either of us so he needed the warning to act accordingly”

“Ma’am” Shindi returned to watching the road carefully, they would be exiting the motorway soon and he needed to make sure that the convoy of cars and bikes were all in the correct position.

“Vikram” Kate smiled at him. “You need to stop calling me ma’am” she reminded him when he turned to look at her. “Kate or Doctor Stewart from now on please”

“Of course Doctor Stewart” he grinned and indicated to exit the motorway.

************************

Osgood filled both travel mugs with coffee and yawned as she handed one to Josh. “Shouldn’t you be having a wheatgrass smoothie?” she look annoyed at how perky he was at this ungodly hour of the morning.

“Regular coffee will be fine thanks” he grinned and continued stretching his hamstrings. “You’re still not loving the early lectures?” he sipped at the hot coffee.

“No point being awake this early unless there’s a Cyberman invasion” Osgood yawned again before shouldering her messenger bag and checking her jacket pockets.

“I’m going out for dinner with some of the other instructors” Josh reminded her. He had already canceled the arrangement but he suspected that he needed to make himself scarce tonight.

“That’s fine, I’ll grab takeout and work late at the lab” she watched as he gathered his keys and phone. “Have a good day darling,” she said as she opened the door and followed him out.

“You too honey” he turned to wink at her before jogging down the corridor.

Osgood shook her head and sipped from her mug. “Osgood” she answered her phone without checking the display. “Of course, my first lecture should be finished by then” she confirmed to her head of department and finished the call, adding a reminder for the impromptu department meeting in her phone before heading to the lecture hall for her first class of the day.

*********************

Kate waited patiently for the receptionist to finish her call before she turned towards them. “Doctor Stewart, here to see Chancellor McMillan”

“I’m sorry, I don’t have any meetings with you in his calendar for today” the receptionist glanced over Kate’s shoulder at the stern-faced man who stood just behind her.

“It’s not a planned visit” Kate remained polite and handed over the identification that she’d pocketed earlier in the day. “Could you ask him for some time please?”

The receptionist gulped as she read the pass and realised that a snap inspection had just started. Nodding she lifted the phone and dialed the internal number for the Chancellor’s secretary. “I have a Doctor Stewart to see the Chancellor” she smiled at Kate as she listened to a query. “Yes, Doctor Stewart from Ofsted” she schooled her features to remain politely helpful as she heard chaos on the other end of the phone. “You’ll come down to collect them?” she confirmed as the secretary relayed various frantic messages. “They’ll be here in a couple of minutes, can I get you a coffee?” she asked and returned to answer her phone when Kate and the other man declined and sat on the visitors' chairs.

Several minutes passed before a young woman approached them. “Doctor Stewart?” she asked nervously. 

“Yes, and this is Mr. Shindi” she introduced the Colonel and shook hands with the secretary. “There’s no reason to be nervous, this is just a procedural call to tick some boxes back at the Home Office” she assured the woman as she followed her to the office.

“The Chancellor is just finishing a conference call, he’ll be with you in five minutes” the woman showed them into an ornate office with bookshelves lining three of the walls. “Can I get you a tea or coffee?” she asked.

“No thank you, we’re fine” Kate replied and smiled to reassure the woman. When they were left on their own they both moved quickly to install several devices on the bookshelves and on the telephone line. “Alright?” she watched as Shindi replaced several books before sitting down in the chair beside her.

“All done” he confirmed and raised his voice a little. “So if the telecoms upgrade in the office is completed we should get confirmation fairly soon” he looked at Kate as he listened to various messages on his hidden earpiece. Once the technical teams confirmed that they were receiving both voice and video from the planted bugs he smiled and nodded.

“Excellent” Kate crossed her legs and looked around the office again. “Most of these books look like they were bought as a job lot from a National Trust house clearance”

“I didn’t spot the latest Dan Brown” Shindi shrugged before turning as the door opened behind them.

“Doctor Stewart and Mr. Shindi” a small man hurried into the office, adjusting his black gown.

“Chancellor” Kate stood and shook his hand. “Apologies for dropping in unannounced but we were in the neighbourhood and noticed that you hadn’t had a visit recently” she returned to her chair and waited for him to settle behind his large desk.

“Not a problem, always a pleasure to show visitors around our campus” he would have been convincing if Shindi hadn’t noticed the beads of sweat on his forehead. “Was there anything in particular that you wanted to see today?”

“Well, we’d hoped to meet some of your teaching staff and set out a schedule for the rest of this week” Kate schooled her features with years of practice and managed not to laugh at the panic she saw when she mentioned the visit lasting beyond the end of the day. “Mr. Shindi is our resident sports sciences expert so perhaps he could begin by visiting their facilities?”

“Of course, I’m sure you’ll both be very impressed by our indoor sports arena” he lifted the phone handset.

“Not really my thing, I’m more of a lab rat so if you have someone who could show me around your science departments that would be most helpful” Kate watched with interest as the Chancellor developed a twitch in his left eye.

“Certainly, just let me arrange someone from each department” he spoke briefly to ask his secretary to arrange their guides. “Are you staying locally?” he tried to return to small talk as he clasped his hands to stop them from shaking.

“Would you have any free space on campus?” Shindi spoke this time, keeping the middle-aged man on edge. “We could find a hotel nearby but it saves time if we’re onsite, lets us finish up more quickly” he smiled slightly to show that he was keen to get the visit over and done with quickly.

The Chancellor nodded in agreement. “Of course, leave it with me and we’ll sort out a couple of rooms in the staff accommodation block” he paused “Unless you only need one room?”

“Two rooms will be fine” Kate narrowed her eyes, making it clear that she didn’t appreciate the inference.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry, the chapter lengths are all over the place, it should even out now!


	5. Chapter 5

Osgood shuffled the papers on her desk as the lecture theatre emptied. Several students congregated around her desk, waiting to ask questions “Sorry, I’ve got a meeting I need to attend, email me any questions or come by my office later today” she carefully stowed all of her papers in her bag, some of what she’d been working on during the test had been UNIT related and not something for nosy students to pry into. 

****************************

“Any idea what this one’s about?” the young man asked as he fell into step beside her.

“Nope, just got a call first thing” Osgood shrugged. “I thought you were the font of all knowledge around here anyway” she teased him.

“I broke up with Janice” he sighed dramatically. “It wasn’t her, it was me” he almost got to the end of the sentence before grinning. “That’s what she yelled at me last night anyway”

“You are awful” Osgood pushed her glasses up her nose and shook her head.

“We can’t all be love’s young dream” he bumped her shoulder with his. “How is Joshy anyway?”

“He’s fine, leading a cross country run today I think” she squinted at him “And he still hates being called Joshy”

“He’ll get used to it” he shrugged, seemingly unconcerned, as he held the door of the large meeting room open for them. “What’s the skinny, boss?” he asked the elderly man who was sitting at the head of the table.

“Professor Thomson” the head of department nodded in his direction before smiling at Osgood. “Professor Osgood, did you get my email about the quiz team?”

“I did Sir” she dropped her bag beside a chair. “I’ll need to check with Josh if we’re free that night” she was getting used to remembering that she was supposed to be a besotted wife.

“Of course, and what did I say about calling me Sir?” he smiled at her, his eyes crinkling.

“Sorry, Godwin” she blushed.

“Quite alright my dear” he turned to the young man who’d entered with her. “Professor Thomson, once everyone has arrived we’ll get started on the agenda”

“You’re such a swot,” the young man said quietly as he held Osgood’s chair for her.

“Paul, behave” she warned him good-naturedly. He reminded her of some of the scientists under her command back at the Tower, although she knew they would be much more respectful of Kate than Paul was of Professor Sir Godwin Evans, the head of their award-winning department. Thinking about Kate reminded her how much she missed her and she sighed.

“Everything alright?” Paul asked as he sat next to her. “I was only joking”

“Oh it’s not that, just been a long week I think” Osgood smiled and took a hit from her inhaler.

“Osgood, it’s only Tuesday” he looked worried.

“You know how much I hate the early starts” she bluffed, knowing she wasn’t very good at dissembling. He was about to ask her something else when Sir Godwin rapped his knuckles on the table to call the meeting to order.

“So in summation…” Sir Godwin was still holding the floor thirty minutes later. He glared at a barely concealed yawn from one of the older lecturers before returning to his point “We’ll be hosting the symposium in the second week of July so please sign the sheet to signify which sessions you’ll be attending” 

Osgood chewed her bottom lip, this was awkward as she was hoping her undercover work would be finished long before then. However, she couldn’t think of a reasonable excuse to get out of the “voluntary” sign-up. She was reading through the sessions to be offered to decide which one could most easily be covered by someone else when Sir Godwin called her name. “Godwin?” she walked over to him.

“We have been infested with inspectors” he looked annoyed, shoving his fountain pen into his jacket pocket with a little extra force. “Would you mind giving them the tour while I get the half-year reports looked out for them?”

“Of course” Osgood shrugged her bag on her shoulder and headed for the Chancellor’s office, glad that in the sudden confusion and instructions Sir Godwin hadn’t noticed that she hadn’t signed up for the symposium. “Chancellor?” Osgood knocked on the door several minutes later and pushed it open on the slightest of noises from inside.

“Ah Professor” the Chancellor stood and walked towards her, clearly he’d forgotten her name.

“Professor Osgood?” the tall woman standing in front of his desk turned and held out her right hand. “I didn’t know you worked here now, it must be five years since we last met?”

Osgood had automatically held out her hand while her brain tried to figure out if she’d missed Kate so much that she’d conjured her out of thin air. “More like six years I think” she went with the conceit, hoping that Kate would help her.

“I don’t think you’ve met my colleague, Mr. Shindi” Kate turned and introduced Vikram who gave Osgood a hearty handshake before winking so quickly that Osgood thought she’d imagined it. Kate turned to the Chancellor who was looking annoyed at the interactions “Professor Osgood and I worked on a project some years ago” she watched him work through his annoyance to force a smile onto his face.

“Professor Osgood never mentioned that she’d worked with OFSTED” he tried to wrestle back control of the situation. “She is covering the maternity leave of one of our longer serving members of staff” 

“The project was for a different government department” Kate dismissed him, he really was too transparent for a seasoned political animal like her. “I’ve followed your career with interest” Kate continued. “Perhaps we can catch up over dinner this evening?”

Osgood swallowed, she was sure she was blushing. “Of course, well I mean I’ll need to check with Josh” she tripped over his name.

“You’re still with Mr. Carter?” Kate smiled slightly, she was enjoying this a lot more than Osgood appeared to be and she finally took pity on her girlfriend. “Why don’t you both have dinner with Vikram and me?”

“That would be lovely” Osgood nodded and took a hit from her inhaler. She noticed the Chancellor had turned the shade of purple that generally led to lots of people shouting ‘clear’ on medical dramas. “Can I show you both around the science labs?” she needed to get Kate to herself to find out what was going on.

“It’ll just be me I’m afraid, Vikram is heading to the sports facilities” Kate lifted her briefcase before turning to Shindi. “I’ll text you with the restaurant details later”

“Don’t blow anything up” he smiled as she glared at him. In his peripheral vision, he saw the small man in the black gown looking increasingly irate. “Can you point out the toilets while we wait for your other guide?”

The Chancellor huffed and puffed for several seconds, he wasn’t sure how he’d managed to lose control in his own office. “This way” he managed to grind out and swept from the room in a whirl of black cloth.

“You’ll need to teach me how to do that” Shindi had leaned closer to Kate and smiled at her snort of laughter.


	6. Chapter 6

Osgood closed the door to her office and leaned against it. “What are you doing here?” she whispered fiercely.

“It’s good to see you as well darling” Kate nonchalantly leaned against Osgood’s desk. Holding up her hands to forestall the annoyed response she could see building. “We found some irregularities in the financial records of the college, something that an Inspector might be able to root out” she waited to see whether Osgood still needed to shout at her. “I needed it to be a surprise when you met me after all these years, that’s the only reason we had that pantomime back there”

“What kind of irregularities?” Osgood decided to concentrate on work for now.

“Something’s not adding up, I’ll know more after we’ve had a proper dig through the books” Kate crossed her arms. “When’s your next lecture?” 

Osgood automatically glanced at her watch before walking towards her desk to drop her bag on it. “I’m supposed to be working in my own lab for the next two hours” she finally smiled. “I’ve missed you” she leaned up to kiss Kate gently.

“Not as much as I’ve missed you” Kate whispered and uncrossed her arms to wrap them around Osgood’s waist. “We should be able to finish this by the end of the week at the latest” she watched the smile build on the brunette’s face.

“I don’t care how long it takes now that you’re here” Osgood caressed the back of Kate’s head before pulling her down for another kiss, this one deeper than the last. 

“Sooner we get this charade over and done with the sooner we can get back to your room to catch up” Kate sighed as she nuzzled at Osgood’s neck. “If we don’t start the guided tour soon I won’t be responsible for your students finding you naked in two hours” 

“Who knew Ofsted Inspectors were so demanding” Osgood tightened her fist in Kate’s hair for a second before stepping back from the embrace and cleaning her glasses. “What’s the plan?” she returned to work mode.

Kate swallowed and ran her hands through her hair, trying to restore some order. She tugged her jacket back into place and checked that her skirt wasn’t too creased before licking her lips. “You and Josh carry on as you are, keeping an eye on the students and teaching staff” she cleared her throat. “Vikram and I will poke around in the management and finances and the bugs we planted in the Chancellor’s office should provide whatever ammunition we need to get access to everything we want”

“So you’re a scientist I’ve worked with in the past on a government project and now you’re a scary inspector?” Osgood clarified the cover story.

“The last ten years are deliberately vague in my background and we’re hinting that Official Secrets are the cause of that” Kate glanced around the office, noticing the dingy furniture and atmosphere for the first time. “Your history has a similar gap for around five years for the same reason” she turned back to her girlfriend. “Good old ‘bureaucracy for the sake of it’ covers a multitude of sins”

“There are a couple of others here who have similar gaps, although both of them are because of time spent with a different department of Her Majesty’s government” Osgood smiled, she’d never have guessed that the geologist in the next office had been a leading light in fixing horse races some years ago. “OK, let’s give you the official tour then” she stood back to let Kate pass her and finally noticed what the blonde was wearing. “I think Munro is trying to kill me” she moaned at the knee length pencil skirt and fitted jacket.

******************************************************

Kate watched the light catch the last few drops of wine in her glass as Vikram paid the bill. “I was ready for that” she sighed as she emptied the glass and accepted her coat from the waiter. 

“Who knew that walking around science labs would tire you out so much” Shindi smiled at her. 

“He’s being brave because he knows she’s not armed” Josh whispered to Osgood as he held her coat for her.

“Everyone’s a comedian” Kate shook her head and followed the others out of the Indian restaurant. “It’s been a long day, let’s call it a night and we can meet up in the morning for breakfast” 

Carter drove them back to the college accommodation block. “I swapped the luggage around, I’ll make sure I’m seen on an early morning run tomorrow” he caught Osgood’s smile in his rearview mirror.

“Thank you Josh” Osgood held onto the door handle, determined not to touch Kate until they were safely behind closed doors.

“Randall managed to finagle the only available rooms being next to yours” Shindi pointed out as Carter parked the car. “Something to do with refurbishment schedules” he shrugged, he hadn’t really been listening past the point where he knew they would be near each other.

“Early night for me I think” Shindi stretched as he got out of the car. He caught sight of a couple of members of staff passing nearby and raised his voice. “I’ll take a raincheck on the brandy, thanks” 

Josh glanced over the roof of the car and saw the eavesdroppers. “Looks like the three of us then Dr. Stewart” he smiled at Kate as she got out of the car.

“Ah yes, did I ever tell you about the exploding custard?” Kate winked at Josh as they all laughed and headed upstairs. 

Osgood wasn’t sure what was happening but she could tell that someone must have been within earshot if the others were continuing the dog and pony show. “In my defence custard powder is explosive anyway” she turned to see Kate behind her on the stairs and noticed the two admin staff pretending to chat to each other at the entrance to the accommodation block.

“Not underwater” Kate helpfully supplied the punchline as they arrived at Osgood’s room. “Right, I’ll have a quick nightcap, breakfast at the usual time Vikram?”

Shindi nodded in agreement and went into the room two doors down. Josh closed their room door behind him and walked quickly to check his tablet on the dining room table. “They’re probably going to hang about for a few minutes then give in, it’s pretty cold down there” he watched the grainy CCTV footage as the two staff appeared to have a whispered conversation before closing the main door and disappearing towards the car park again. “We’re clear” he confirmed to Shindi on his comms device and listened to instructions. “The Colonel suggests I wait five minutes before slipping out if that’s alright ma’am?”

Kate was standing in the galley kitchen, making three mugs of tea. “Of course, are we secure apart from the amateur surveillance?” 

“Yes ma’am, the team you brought with you are following them off campus now and everything else is quiet” Josh assured her, moving to pack a few items of clothing in a bag as Kate set the mugs down on the coffee table.

Osgood had settled onto one end of the sofa and gratefully leaned forward for the mug. “At least you’ll get to sleep in a proper bed tonight” she smiled at Josh and winked at him as he nervously glanced at Kate. “Kate is aware of your chivalry”

“Didn’t expect anything else Captain” Kate assured him, she knew she’d been quite huffy with him in the past but she couldn’t really blame him for fancying her very fanciable girlfriend. 

Josh nodded and listened briefly to a report from outside. “Roger that, Greyhounds 1 and 2 are secure, Carter signing off” he waited for the confirmation before carefully opening the door and slipping into the corridor. 

Kate barely heard the door closing in the apartment next to theirs and breathed a sigh of relief at finally being alone with Osgood. “He’s a good man” she sipped her tea.

Osgood watched the blonde as she relaxed into the sofa, stretching her legs out and reminding her of the outfit. “So was Munro going for undergraduate-wet-dream when he picked that out for you?” she asked quietly, rather ruining the outfit when Kate choked on her tea and spilled some down the blouse. “Sorry” she jumped up to grab some kitchen towel and helped to mop up the spill. “That’ll need to be soaked” she muttered as she watched the spreading stain, raising an eyebrow as Kate unbuttoned the blouse and slipped it off. 

“There were less messy ways of asking me to undress” Kate pointed out as she stood and kicked off her shoes.

“I was rather enjoying you wearing the outfit, but if you insist” the brunette led the way into her bedroom and swatted Kate’s hands away from her skirt. “Let me” she murmured and helped the blonde to get rid of the rest of her clothing. She carefully hung the skirt on a hanger before turning to see Kate had folded down the duvet before squinting at her. “What, I didn’t want it to get creased!” she protested before throwing her own clothes on the floor and pulling her girlfriend into a hug. “Sorry” she whispered before kissing her thoroughly.

“Bed…..now” Kate groaned between kisses and pulled away long enough to move onto the bed. “Feel so good” she followed the path of her hands as she looked at Osgood. 

“You’re so beautiful” Osgood returned to kissing her, sinking into the familiar arms and molding their bodies together “Can we lose this?” she asked as the pearl necklace interfered with the attention she wanted to pay to Kate’s neck. Finding the clasp she carefully removed it and placed it on the bedside table, “Better” she sighed and returned to nibbling her way carefully along collar bones that she’d dreamt about every night.

Kate stroked her hands down Osgood’s back, slowly sliding her legs open until the brunette’s thigh slipped between her own. “I’ve missed you so much” she scratched her back, moving up to her neck and sliding her hands into her hair. “Kiss me” she relished the movement of the warm body on top of her as Osgood squirmed and kissed her. 

Osgood couldn’t get enough, she’d spoken to Kate every night before falling asleep but having her in her arms was something she’d only dreamed of. “I……” she started to speak but Kate pulled her back down to continue kissing. She smiled into them, happy to let their visceral reconnection take place in relative silence. 

Kate lifted her right leg to give Osgood her thigh to grind against. She immediately felt the expected response and pulled the brunette’s left hip tighter, setting up a rhythm of grinding up towards Osgood’s thigh as she ground down. The kisses were getting sloppy now, both of them breathing heavily as they concentrated on finding the perfect angle to make the jigsaw complete. “Os” Kate groaned as she dropped her other hand to the brunette’s hip to give herself some leverage to push up against the trembling thigh. 

Osgood lost herself in the steadily increasing pace of their connection. She imagined watching them grinding together on the bed, no sounds apart from harsh breaths and gasps. She’d never come like this before, had assumed that at some point she’d need to find a way for her hand to reach Kate’s clit as the blonde found hers. The sudden spike in awareness that she was actually close to the edge came as a surprise and she only managed an out-of-breath “Kate!” before her eyes slammed closed and her hips jerked, losing their rhythm.

“Os” Kate knew what had happened, could feel the evidence on her thigh and felt short fingernails digging into her shoulder as Osgood held on for dear life. Seconds later her head slammed into the pillow and she was desperately trying to stay quiet as her orgasm seemed to send an electrical current straight up her spine. After several seconds she relaxed onto the soft bed “Well that was new” she managed as the brunette moved to lie by her side. “Are you alright?” she asked when Osgood hadn’t said anything.

“Sometimes it scares me how much I love you,” Osgood said quietly, her head burrowed under Kate’s chin as she rested her hand on the blonde’s abdomen to feel the muscles still bubbling under the surface.

“I don’t want you to be scared of me” Kate whispered as she ran her hand through the tousled hair. “Or us, we’re so much stronger together and nothing scares me when you’re by my side”

Osgood was overwhelmed, both by the orgasm and the emotional impact of connecting with Kate again after three weeks apart. She wanted to reassure the blonde but couldn’t find the words so kept her head buried and inhaled their scents. 

Kate continued to run her fingers through the brunette hair, aware of the heavier breathing leveling out for both of them. Osgood snuffled as she finally fell asleep, turning onto her back enough to let Kate grab the duvet from the bottom of the bed and cover them both. Kate lay on her side staring at the younger woman “I love you” she said hoarsely before resting her arm across the brunette’s stomach and falling asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Chancellor McMillan scowled at the spreadsheet on the screen as he shouted “Enter” to the person who’d knocked on his door. “Ah Osgood” he smiled for the first time in several hours. 

“You asked to see me?” Osgood carefully closed the door before standing in front of his desk.

“Please, sit down” he waved at the visitor’s chairs. “I understand you have a prior relationship with one of the Inspectors?” he decided to cut to the chase.

Osgood raised her eyebrows and hoped that her surprise wasn’t too evident. “Sir?” she felt for her inhaler in her pocket, running her thumbnail across the end cap in a nervous habit she’d had for years.

“Dr. Stewart, you’ve worked with her previously?” he still wasn’t really paying attention to the young lecturer, he was too busy worrying about the bank accounts he was trying to hide.

“We did, briefly, she was the lead scientist on a project that I was a junior researcher for” Osgood swallowed, pretending to look nervous now that she realised he didn’t actually know their true relationship.

“Right, well I was hoping we would be able to help each other out” he finally turned to look at her, clasping his hands on top of his desk.

“Of course, how can I help?” she pushed her glasses up her nose and waited to hear what would undoubtedly be more evidence of his guilt.

“It would help the University if you could highlight the good works being carried out in the science department, including the Symposium that Professor Evans mentioned” his secretary had warned him that the young woman had a soft spot for the eminent Welshman who ran her department. “Perhaps your husband could keep an eye on the other inspector, make sure he hears about the awards and successes our sporting teams have achieved”

“I’ll ask Josh” Osgood imagined the technicians watching the hidden video feed and listening to the audio bug so she didn’t notice that the Chancellor had stopped speaking. “Was there anything else?” she prompted, rather disappointed at the lack of incriminating evidence.

“Well it’s a bit of a delicate matter” he cleared his throat before continuing. “If you could find out what they’re looking for specifically and, perhaps, let me know, that would be very helpful” he waited to see what her response would be. “It’s just that there is so much paperwork to get through, I’d hoped we could give them what they wanted to see as soon as possible”

Osgood nodded gently “I suppose so” she licked her lips. “But don’t you think that’s a little clandestine?” she hoped that trying to hide her grin would be seen as confusion and concern on her part.

“I wouldn’t ask you to do anything of that nature” he assured her, although he really wanted her to do exactly that. “I mean it’s not as if we’re going to be planting bugs or hacking into their laptops” he smiled gently.

“No, obviously not” Osgood bit the inside of her cheek, this was turning out to be a very bizarre lunchtime meeting.

“I’m just keen to be seen to be helpful, cooperative” he nodded as he made the point, hoping that this slightly dim young woman would agree with the nonsense he was spouting.

“I’m supposed to be spending a couple of hours with Dr. Stewart this afternoon” Osgood stared down at her hands, picturing exactly what she wanted to do during her afternoon session with Kate. “I’ll see if I can get some more information from her then” 

He saw the blush on the brunette’s cheeks, only just stopping himself from rolling his eyes. “Excellent, I’m glad we understand each other” he clapped his hands together and stood, keen to get back to his spreadsheet of hidden accounts.

**********************************************

“So he wants you to spy on me while I spy on him” Kate confirmed that she had understood Osgood’s description of the meeting correctly. “And he actually mocked planting bugs and hacking computers?” 

“He did” Osgood cleaned her glasses, the tears of laughter had marked them quite badly. 

“If we’re both being double agents does that mean we get paid twice as much?” Josh rested his mug of tea on his knee.

“Carter” Shindi rumbled before glancing at his watch. “We need to get going soon” he reminded the others. “I assume we’re going to continue the smoke and mirrors while Osgood’s team tracks everything he’s doing with the accounts?”

“I think that’s probably our best option” Kate nodded. “The Tower reckon they should have everything accounted for by the end of tomorrow”

“But that still doesn’t explain what happened to Dr. Jones’ proteges,” Osgood said quietly. “We can’t just forget about them”

“Don’t worry, we haven’t” Kate rested her hand on Osgood’s knee. “You and I are going to be looking into their notes and research papers this afternoon”

“Sounds riveting” Shindi sighed as he stood up and pulled on his waterproof. “Come on Carter, we have a rugby training session to monitor”

“Sir” Carter looked towards Osgood and she could tell that he’d much rather stay with them, indoors and dry. 

“I’ll make dinner tonight” Osgood winked at him as he followed the Colonel. “So what do I tell Principal Snyder when I report back to him?” she asked Kate.

Kate cocked her head, not sure she caught the reference but determined not to ask. “I think he should know that we’re most interested in the catering budgets,” she said with confidence, rolling up her sleeves and gathering the ingredients together for Shepherd’s Pie.

**********

Once the food was prepared Kate slipped her watch back on and straightened her shirt sleeves. “Right, let’s head over to the lab and you can sneak out to report back”

“Godwin has said you can have access to whatever files you need” Osgood locked the apartment door behind them, shouldering her messenger bag. “Are you sure you’ll be warm enough?” she whispered, gesturing to Kate’s lightweight jacket and short skirt.

“Contrary to popular belief my legs won’t fall off with a bit of fresh air” Kate shook her head and followed her girlfriend downstairs. “I would rather be wearing trousers though” she said quietly as they walked across the campus.

“Lack of pockets?” Osgood guessed and smiled as Kate clenched her left hand. “Once we get inside you can put your hands in mine if you want” she suggested.

“Professor Osgood!” Kate said in a slightly louder voice, spotting the group of students approaching them on the path. “I’m sure you remember what happened at Pinewood?” she kept her eyes forward but was aware of Osgood faltering beside her. “Afternoon” she nodded at a young woman who had stepped to the side to let her pass.

Osgood had briefly had a very vivid memory of exactly where Kate’s hands had roamed during their private screening at Pinewood Studios. Shaking her head slightly she stopped to let the small group of students walk past her, noticing the young woman who had stepped aside for Kate and who was now staring at the magnificent Lethbridge Stewart arse that was still walking away from them. Clearing her throat loudly she glared at the student, who at least had the decency to blush at being caught ogling by a Professor. Catching up with Kate she followed her into the building, pointing her in the direction of the laboratory they were looking for. “Does Keith owe you any more favours?” she licked her lips as she dumped her bag and coat on the desk at the front of the lab.

“I don’t think so, we can always microwave some popcorn at home” Kate smiled, she often remembered watching Cary Grant being charming while Osgood snuggled against her in the private cinema.

“Let’s bring these kids home and then we can do exactly that” Osgood walked towards several large filing cabinets, checking a reference in her notebook before pulling open one of the drawers. “Dr. Jones could only narrow down the timescale to a couple of weeks” she apologised as she started emptying files onto the nearest bench.

“Right, let me get started on these while you update the Chancellor” Kate dropped into an uncomfortable desk chair and pulled the earliest files towards her. 

Ten minutes later Osgood stood outside the Chancellor’s office, explaining that she’d been asked to deliver a report to him. Once inside she settled two takeout mugs of coffee on his desk, seeing his look of concern that she’d spill them. “I said I’d nip out for some coffee and left her looking through some research papers” she explained to the panicked looking man behind the desk. “I asked her if there was anything specific she wanted to look at and she said she was really interested in the catering budgets” she cleared her throat to cut off the laugh she felt bubbling in her chest. 

“Catering?” he looked nonplussed, by chance Kate had randomly thrown out one of the few departments he wasn’t skimming money from. “Alright, carry on” he waved and barely noticed the clumsy woman trying to juggle two mugs of coffee as she opened and closed his office door.


	8. Chapter 8

Kate shook her head at Osgood’s offer of more shepherd’s pie “It seems that their research had wandered off the beaten track a little, which is why Dr. Jones didn’t know exactly what they were working on”

“I looked at their notes when I first arrived, I didn’t see anything that would help us” Osgood returned to her seat, looking worried that she’d missed something.

“It’s a very tenuous link” Kate reassured her. “I only noticed it because one of my first projects with UNIT was on DNA changes due to long term exposure to radiation in space” she calmly finished eating, sipping from her glass of wine before noticing that the others were staring at her. “I didn’t just walk into the top job!” she reminded them.

“So they were working on the same thing?” Shindi tried to steer them back onto safer ground.

“No, they weren’t” Osgood shook her head.

“No, they weren’t” Kate agreed with her. “They were part of a larger project looking into gene editing”

“Why was Martha involved then?” Josh asked, buttering another slice of bread and using it to mop up the last of his dinner.

“Dr. Jones” Osgood raised an eyebrow at him for forgetting her proper title. “She’s coordinating the project, officially it’s looking into small changes to increase the potency of cancer treatments”

“Unofficially?” Josh asked.

“She has knowledge of a particular gene sequence that will eradicate some autoimmune diseases, specifically MS from the human genome and was gently nudging the teams towards figuring it out themselves” Kate supplied. “Obviously we can’t just announce that the cure was found on an alien planet and used as a bargaining chip when someone was caught misbehaving on Earth”

Josh stared at Kate, shocked at the nonchalance with which she’d just dropped the bombshell. “We know how to cure MS?” he swallowed.

“Unofficially, yes” Osgood looked uncomfortable. “But the cure isn’t of any use if people are too scared to accept it because of paranoia and fear”

“So Dr. Jones was controlling the direction the teams were taking to lead them to the answer themselves?” Shindi confirmed he understood. When Kate nodded he looked at Osgood and asked: “And two scruffy youths at this university are the key to this entire project?”

“Hardly scruffy” Kate smiled at his dismissal of the students. “They’re researchers and were given free rein to follow where their intuition led them with the results from some of the other teams” she closed her eyes, trying to remember the details she’d read earlier. “They’re quite brilliant, more so than even Martha suspects I think” she smiled again. “The two weeks before they disappeared were taken up with searches on DNA changes due to cosmic radiation and some of those searches triggered alarm bells to ring in Moscow and Washington”

Josh shook his head. “The kind of alarm bells that get you kidnapped and sent to a Gulag?”

“More likely an underground lab in New Mexico” Kate stifled a yawn before slowly pushing back from the table. “Can we sit somewhere more comfortable?”

“Roswell,” Osgood said quietly before she blew out a breath. “Can we get them back?”

“Probably, I sent Martha a message earlier and suggested she talk to our UNIT command team in the US” Kate yawned properly now, the day was catching up with her. “Sorry” she apologised as she moved into the living room. “I’m sure she’ll be able to find them, with some help, she can be very persuasive when she wants to be”

Osgood watched the blonde, she could tell that her back was giving her problems from the way she slowly stretched after standing up from the dining table. “So we can finish up here and head back home?” she asked quietly.

“I think Vikram and I should be able to deliver the financial report to the board tomorrow afternoon and we have interim lecturers waiting to step into your posts from next Monday” Kate nodded to Carter and Osgood. “We should all be home by the weekend and back at our own desks on Monday”

Shindi settled into the armchair “It’s not the most uncomfortable undercover job I’ve ever worked on” he smiled at Kate before turning to the brunette “That was delicious” he toasted Osgood with his wine glass. 

“I’ll miss your cooking when we’re back home” Josh agreed as he cleared the plates.

“I won’t miss the tiny kitchen with no gadgets” Osgood pointed at the galley kitchen. “There isn’t even a dishwasher!”

“Just leave them, Josh, it’s my turn to do the dishes,” Kate said over her shoulder. “Bring the other bottle of wine through” she suggested and kicked her shoes off before settling on the sofa.

Osgood sat at the other end of the sofa from the blonde to avoid temptation. “Not for me, thanks” she shook her head as Josh topped up the other wine glasses. 

“I was thinking” he started and pretended to ignore the mumbled ‘oh dear’ from Shindi. “If none of us had joined UNIT this may be where we all ended up anyway”

Kate ran her hand through her hair, glad that it wasn’t constrained by hairspray any longer. “Drinking decent wine while you pretend to be married to my girlfriend?” she smiled at his sudden look of discomfort. “Sorry, couldn’t resist, I didn’t mean to interrupt” she waved her wine glass to get him to continue.

“Well if I’d left the Army after serving my time I could have ended up teaching what’s effectively PT somewhere like this” he shrugged. “And Osgood is qualified enough to be running the entire department”

Shindi nodded “I never really had a plan for civilian life, but I could see myself being Mr. Carter’s boss somewhere like this” he smiled at the young man as they all laughed.

“I did work somewhere like this, in medieval times” Kate smiled gently, remembering her days before UNIT knocked on her door. “I enjoyed teaching, but I’d probably have ended up being in the management side if I’m honest”

“Yeah, you always like to be in charge” Osgood realised what she’d said and blushed a little. 

“It’s more fun when I get to carry a gun and blow things up” Kate continued and winked at the brunette as they laughed.

“I don’t think I’d have ended up teaching, not long term anyway” Osgood seemed to stare off into the middle distance. “I was planning on having my own tiny lab and beavering away on some obscure research until I was old and grey”

“I think we all took the right path, in that case,” Kate raised her glass. “To ending up at UNIT,” she said and sipped her wine at the same time as the others.


	9. Chapter 9

“He should have taken the gown off before they handcuffed him,” Josh said quietly to Osgood. 

Osgood winced as the gown was shut in the backdoor of the police car, a sad little black flag waving as the Chancellor of the University was driven off the campus. “Time for us to say goodbye” she turned to see most of the staff staring at the four of them in disbelief.

“Alright, we’ll meet at the cars in an hour,” Kate said and walked briskly off to reassure the remaining board members that the University would survive the scandal.

“I’ll miss you Pauly” Josh held his hand out with a grin, shaking firmly before nodding to Osgood and heading towards the members of the Sports Science department.

“What just happened?” Paul Thomson stared at his hand before turning to face Osgood.

“The Chancellor has been fiddling the books and we work with Ofsted to investigate these kinds of situations” Osgood confidently deployed the cover story. In the scheme of things this was one of the easier covers she had used, at least the police were kind enough to cart off the miscreant this time. “Sorry for misleading you”

“You’re a secret agent,” Paul said it as a statement even as he looked unsure of it as a fact.

“Not really, civil servant mostly” she stuck her hands into her lab coat pockets. “Well a bit of a scientist as well” she shrugged and pushed her glasses up her nose.

“Did Godwin know?” he followed her as she walked back into the building. 

“No, nobody knew” Osgood walked quickly, trying to avoid the whispered conversations of staff still gathered in small groups. “That’s kind of the point of being undercover”

“Do you have a gun?” he tried to whisper the question but clearly failed as the noise in the corridor abruptly stopped and every head turned towards them.

“No!” Osgood stopped walking to vigorously deny it “That’s more Josh’s thing” she successfully whispered this time before winking at him and heading towards the department head’s office.

“Professor Osgood” Godwin looked surprised to see her entering his office. “Or is it just Osgood?” he looked confused.

“Technically it is Professor but I prefer just Osgood” she closed the door behind her, nervously fiddling with the inhaler in her pocket. “I am sorry I had to keep this from you”

“I understand” he nodded graciously towards the visitor’s chair in front of his desk. “You couldn’t have known who was involved in the beginning”

“I ruled you out quite quickly, but my boss wanted to keep it as quiet as possible” Osgood settled into the chair. “We have another lecturer who’ll step in to take my position on Monday, the students won’t be affected by this”

“I’m sure they will be affected, you were very well thought of even in your short tenure” the head of department smiled gently. “However I did think you were obviously over-qualified for a provincial University like ours”

“Perhaps a little” she looked down in embarrassment. “We have a small team and there wasn’t anyone else available when the opportunity arose to place someone here”

“I had no idea Ofsted were so proactive in rooting out financial irregularities” he guessed there was more to the events of the past few weeks than had been revealed by the Chancellor’s arrest that morning, however, he also knew that the young woman probably wouldn’t tell him any more than he already knew.

“We’re very keen on protecting public money” Osgood nodded and tried to look serious but she felt she’d failed when the elderly Welshman sitting opposite her crinkled his eyes and shook his head. 

“Perhaps someday you can tell me the rest of the story?” he asked.

“Perhaps” Osgood shrugged. “I do have a favour to ask before I leave”

“Of course, you’ve saved the University from the Pernicious Addlepate so I’ll provide whatever assistance you require” he sat back and laced his fingers across the front of his waistcoat.

Osgood blushed, the Chancellor being found out and arrested had been an unforeseen bonus and she was uncomfortable taking credit for it. “I hope you don’t mind but when I was digging into some of the research projects I found a paper you’d written some time ago” she reached into her messenger bag and pulled out a slightly battered looking folder. “The bacteria you were researching that had the ability to break down some plastics” she placed the folder on his desk.

Godwin flipped through the papers before handing the folder back to her “I remember, we were working with partners in other Universities to try to ‘weaponise’ the enzymes produced by the bacteria” he waited to hear what her question would be.

“But the project ended quite abruptly about two years ago?” she asked, already knowing the exact date that the research had been embargoed. 

“It did, the usual conspiracy theories raced around and I believe there was a split between it being shut down by a foreign government or a multinational with vested interests” he tilted his head slightly, intrigued when Osgood didn’t immediately scoff at the outlandish theories. “We probably just ran out of money” he shrugged.

“Perhaps” she wasn’t going to tell him that it was UNIT that had taken over the research. “Your paper had an intriguing hypothesis though, that the enzymes could be engineered to break down specific plastic compounds”

“Yes, we came across the possibility in test results we analysed near the end of the project” he nodded. “I’m confused as to why Ofsted would be interested in a defunct research project?” he finally ran out of patience.

“Would you mind if I passed your paper to a colleague in another department?” she licked her lips, this could get tricky if he asked too many questions. “I think this may be the sort of thing his team are looking into”

“Of course, the paper was published so it’s readily available and I have notes from the time if they wish more detail” he sighed. 

“Perfect, I’m sorry I have to leave this afternoon” she packed the folder back into her bag. “I’m sure my colleague will be contacting you in the near future to discuss it with you” she stood up and held out her hand. “It has been a pleasure working for you Sir”

He walked around the desk and shook her hand firmly. “An honour to have met you Osgood” he tilted his head again. “Perhaps we could keep in touch, our quiz team still needs a cosmologist”

“That might be a bit of a commute but I’ll email you with my contact details, I’d like to keep in touch” she smiled and pushed her glasses back up her nose.

“I’ll walk you out, make sure you don’t get mobbed by nosy students” he held his hand out to let her precede him out of his office.

Osgood chatted with the older man as they walked towards the car park. There were still groups of people gossiping as they walked through the building but she ignored the stares. When they exited the building she glanced around to see if the rest of the team were ready to leave and faltered for a moment as she spotted them standing beside one of the cars. Taking a deep breath she shook her head slightly and licked her lips. “Looks like we’re ready to head back to London” she tore her eyes away from the ridiculously long legs of her girlfriend who was leaning nonchalantly against the car while sharing a joke with the Colonel. “Can I introduce you to the team?”

Professor Sir Godwin Evans instinctively knew that the last person he was introduced to, a blonde woman, was used to being in charge. “Dr. Stewart, thank you for your help” he shook her hand firmly.

“We were just doing our job Sir, but I need to thank you for looking after Osgood while she was with you” Kate caught movement in her peripheral vision. “And I’m sorry we couldn’t read you into this sooner”

“We’re ready to move out ma’am” Shindi saw the raised eyebrow but knew that correcting his mistake would make it more obvious to the older man she was talking with.

“I’ll drive Osgood back to the office myself” Kate waited for him to overrule her but saw the acknowledgment in his eyes as he noted the number of witnesses to their discussion. She watched him nod and get Carter to move their bags into one of the other cars. “We have another project to discuss” she finally turned to explain to Osgood and the man still standing next to her.

“Of course” Osgood agreed before turning away with a smile on her face. “We’ll talk soon” she offered her hand to the Professor once more before removing her lab coat and stowing it in the boot beside their bags. “Thanks,” she said quietly to Josh as he handed her the keys.

Kate sighed as she made sure to carefully slide into the driver’s seat “We’re stopping at the first services so I can change” she grumbled as Osgood laughed. “Vikram?” she answered her phone as it rang. “We’re not even out of the car park!”


	10. Chapter 10

“I think you missed the shower more than me!” Kate complained as Osgood finally emerged from the steamy en-suite. 

“Hardly” Osgood finished toweling her hair before throwing both towels into the laundry basket. “I missed our bed more than I missed you but you’re definitely second on the list” she yawned and climbed under the duvet.

Kate smiled at the brunette before switching off her bedside light and snuggling down beside her. “I missed this” she closed her eyes as Osgood settled into her arms, one leg resting across her hips. She had assumed that the increasing frequency of yawns and soft moans of happiness when they reached home were signals that the younger woman wanted to catch up on some sleep. She knew that Osgood rarely slept well away from home and the past few weeks had been problematic despite Carter being nearby. Kate was nearly asleep when she felt Osgood’s hand slide from resting on her own hip to caress the skin just below Kate’s breast. “Os?” she whispered.

“I’m sorry, would you rather sleep?” Osgood whispered back at her, stalling the movements of her fingers on the soft skin.

“Come here” Kate didn’t bother replying to the ridiculous question, instead lifting the brunette’s chin to allow them to kiss. “I thought you were asleep” she mumbled several moments later, tightening her hold around Osgood’s waist.

“I lied” Osgood kissed the corner of the blonde’s mouth “I missed this, us” she pushed forward and followed Kate’s movement as she landed on her back. “I need you” she straddled the blonde’s hips and settled on top of her, pushing their breasts together.

“Yessss” Kate managed before deciding talking was overrated and touching with extra kissing was definitely more enjoyable. Her right hand drifted down to the younger woman’s hip, pulling her closer as a gentle rhythm built from their closeness.

“Love you” Osgood sighed out on a breath as she shuffled until her thigh slid between the blondes. “I dreamt of this every night” she mumbled.

“Me too” Kate whispered as her eyes fluttered closed. “Sort of……” she didn’t realise she’d said that part out loud until the brunette stopped kissing her neck.

“Sort of?” she asked and smiled down at the older woman.

Kate licked her lips “Sorry, can I just….?” she lifted her hip and turned them until Osgood was looking up at her with a surprised grin. “OK?” 

Osgood didn’t answer verbally, instead pulled the blonde down to kiss her. She moaned as she felt Kate’s hand slide between them, closing her eyes as she raised her hips to encourage the delightful fingers to exactly the right spot. “There,” she muttered a minute later, grabbing onto Kate’s shoulder and holding her tight until lights flashed across her closed eyelids.

Kate settled down onto the mattress beside the brunette, flexing her hand to get the feeling back into her fingers. “It’s alright love, go to sleep” she whispered, pulling the duvet over both of them and giving Osgood permission to stop in her attempts to reciprocate. 

“Not fair” Osgood mumbled, struggling to open her eyes. “Morning” she managed before sleep claimed her.

“Love you” Kate kissed the top of her head and slid down, wriggling to find the perfect position to sleep with Osgood close enough to touch but not crowding her. She heard the mumbled reply and fell asleep with a soppy smile on her face.

**********************************

“What…….” Kate was aware of her surroundings a few seconds before she realised that a determined younger woman was licking and sucking around her breasts. “Wait….” she tried to slow down the light-speed reaction of her body.

“OK?” Osgood looked up at the adorably befuddled blonde, letting her nipple slip from between her lips. She grinned as Kate stretched her neck and lifted her breasts closer to her warm mouth. She watched for a second and caught Kate glancing at the bedside clock. “We have time” she promised and leaned down to return to the very dedicated exploration of the small but beautiful breasts in front of her before sliding down the twitching body and settling between her thighs.

Kate groaned as her orgasm hit her in waves, curling her toes and bruising her knuckles as she grabbed the headboard to keep herself anchored. “Jesus” she managed as her breathing slowly returned to normal.

Osgood giggled as the alarm started to beep annoyingly. “Let me” she rolled over and switched it off as Kate struggled to coordinate anything more than a twitch from her limbs. “I’ll get breakfast started while you jump in the shower” she patted Kate’s left thigh before pulling on a nightshirt and heading downstairs.

Kate lay on her back, staring at the ceiling and slowly stretching out various muscle groups. When she finally managed to lower her arm from the headboard she wiped her hand across her face and blew out a breath. “Jesus” she whispered again and slowly sat up, waiting for the light-headedness to pass.

“More toast?” Osgood asked thirty minutes later as she refilled Kate’s mug of tea. She watched as the subdued woman continued to stare into space. “Kate” she placed her hand gently on the blonde’s forearm. “Are you OK?”

“Better than OK” Kate focussed on her worried girlfriend. “You just scrambled my brain, that’s all” she tried to reassure her.

“I’m sorry, I should have woken you up first and asked if you wanted to” Osgood knew Kate had enjoyed everything that happened after she woke up but that wasn’t the same as giving her the choice to refuse before she’d started.

“No, I’m sorry” Kate stood and walked around the table, holding her hand out for the brunette to take it and stand in front of her. “I love you, I don’t tell you often enough” she leaned down and slowly kissed the uncertain woman. “This morning was wonderful and I’ll never forget how you made me feel”

“There’s a ‘but’ coming up, I can tell” Osgood quirked a smile and waited, knowing that Kate wasn’t angry and wanting to give her the time to explain what was happening inside her head.

“It’s just…” Kate refused to say ‘but’, although she was struggling to find words to adequately explain what had happened. “I don’t think anyone has ever made me feel as loved, as cherished as you do” she started, a little more confident. “The job, it doesn’t really give me the opportunity to be as open, exposed as this” she kissed Osgood again. 

“You’re always waiting for the phone to ring” Osgood nodded, she understood the pressures better than anyone else on the planet. 

“Yes, and I always need to be ready to deal with whatever is thrown at us” Kate pulled out the kitchen chair next to Osgood and sat down, waiting for her girlfriend to return to her own chair. “And every time we get the call I may have to send someone on a mission they don’t return from” she looked down at their entwined hands, breathing through the tightening in her chest.

“You deserve to relax and be happy between the calls” Osgood tentatively suggested, not sure if she’d caught Kate’s point.

“I know, especially now we’re together, I want to make every minute special for you” she swallowed before continuing. “What I feel now, this morning, it’s like you took away all of the armour I wear and I’m left with just this” she gestured to her body, hoping the jumble of words was making more sense to Osgood than they did to her.

Osgood squeezed her fingers gently, lifting their joined hands to place a kiss on the blonde’s knuckles. “What can I do to help?” she asked, always problem-solving even when a ray gun wasn’t the answer.

“Other than avoiding pouncing on me in the morning?” Kate smiled but her eyes were glistening and her lip wobbled a little. “I’ll be fine, I’ll hide away in my office until I feel able to rant at the MoD”

“I’ve got a better idea” Osgood waited for Kate to meet her eyes. “How do you fancy a morning in my lab, trying out some ideas I have for a plastic-eating bacteria?” she flashed her eyebrows. “You can also practice ranting until it sounds like your usual grumpy self and I’ll make sure nobody disturbs us”

“Hey” Kate laughed at the gentle teasing. “I am not usually grumpy…...much” she took a couple of deeper breaths. “Actually that sounds perfect, it’s been a while since I was in a lab in anger”


	11. Chapter 11

“Thank you for your help General” Kate shook the hand offered to her and stood as the rest of the military escort followed the General out of the room. Kate let silence fall for a few seconds before turning to the other occupants of the meeting room. “Welcome home” she smiled at the two exhausted-looking men. “To you too” she winked at Martha Jones.

“Things have changed a lot around here” Martha grinned and relaxed a little from the upright posture she’d kept when the soldiers were in the room.

“We brought in nicer coffee machines” Kate shrugged off the changes she’d made to the fabric of UNIT. “Now can we get you something to eat or drink?” she asked the young men.

“What happened?” Nigel asked, looking around in bewilderment at the old brick walls that made up three sides of the room. “Where are we?”

Kate sighed “I do hate it when they do that” she stood and walked around the table to sit next to them. “You’re in London and we just need to run through some basic medical tests to make sure you’re both alright before Martha gets you settled in a hotel”

Owen studied the blonde and nodded once “So we’re your prisoners now?” he asked in a lilting tone that almost covered the anger he felt.

“No, we just want to make sure you’re alright and then offer you jobs” Martha placed her hand on his arm. “In their own insane way they thought they were protecting you” she nodded at the door the military escort had left through.

“We were bundled into a car, drugged and woke up in America!” Owen was properly on the way to losing his temper and Kate shook her head when Martha tried to comfort him again.

“You came close to some research outcomes that threatened to expose something we’re all tasked with keeping as quiet as possible” she stood and walked to the back of the room. “The Americans took you to protect you from a Russian team that was about to do something similar but with less comfortable accommodations”

“They didn’t take us” Owen had stood up as well now and Martha looked towards the door as one of Kate’s team stepped inside and leaned against the wall, looking relaxed but clearly ready to intervene if the shouting escalated. “They kidnapped us and literally kept us in the dark for……” he stopped and everyone in the room could see the anger leaving him as he slumped into a chair. “I don’t even know what date it is,” he said in a whisper.

Kate nodded towards the young man who’d entered and he stepped forward. “Let’s get you some proper clothes and our doc can check you over” Carter waited until the two young men stood and mutely followed him. “Ma’am” he nodded at Kate as he closed the door behind them.

“Thank you for believing me” Martha watched as Kate paced up and down the room.

“This planet owes you a debt of gratitude, I’m just honoured to be the one to repay some of it this time,” Kate said solemnly. “The American UNIT team is working on finding out who authorised this from within the US military” she ran her hand through her hair. “We’ll be explaining our displeasure in a full and frank exchange of views”

Martha laughed “Remind me never to annoy you” she crossed her legs and smiled.

“If you could just pass that message around the planet it would save me from being annoyed quite so often” Kate sighed and quirked a smile. “I heard a rumour that the science teams are getting bacon rolls in, fancy crashing their party?”

Osgood looked up as Kate and Martha entered the lab before checking her watch “Who had twenty-seven minutes in the pool?” she shouted above the general hubbub. “I had twelve” she admitted sheepishly to Kate.

“Just point me at the food and I’ll forgive you this time” Kate shook her head and bit into a large, floury bacon roll as several scientists gathered around McGillop who was handing out monopoly money. “I thought you’d stopped doing that” 

Osgood looked over at the gathering and blushed slightly as she prepared to admit the slight lie of omission. “Well, I promised we’d stop using real money” she pushed her glasses up and made eye contact with Kate. She couldn’t really take the blonde seriously when she had flour down the front of her black shirt but she knew she was in trouble.

Kate finished eating and wiped the worst of the flour from her lips, looking down she sighed and clapped her hands together to get rid of the rest of the residue. “So there is some kind of barter system for the fake money?” she wasn’t really annoyed but intrigued by how Osgood had managed to get around her ban on betting pools.

“I couldn’t say ma’am” Osgood unconsciously squared her shoulders and was relieved to see a smile appear briefly before Kate managed to hide it again. “Next time you join us I’ll make sure you get a lab coat” she risked a glance down at Kate’s flour-covered chest before flicking her eyes back up to see a raised eyebrow. 

“I need to go and change before my meeting, we’ll pick this up later” Kate sighed. “Martha, did you want to stay and be corrupted by our scientists?”

“Please, if you don’t mind” Martha had watched the interaction and wanted to get to know Osgood better. She knew her by reputation but nobody had suggested she had a sense of humour and she certainly didn’t seem timid in front of Kate.

“We’ll reconvene when our guests have cleared their medical checks and sort out the job offers and accommodations” Kate nodded to the two women and headed back to her office and a clean shirt, while it would be amusing to tell the Minister it was moon dust she would save teasing the woman for another time.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you” Martha held her hand out to the brunette.

“For me too, Dr. Jones” Osgood assumed she was blushing and was glad that Kate wasn’t here to tease her about it.

“Please call me Martha” she looked around. “I was speaking to Professor Evans at the University, he was telling me about some excitement they’d had with a crack Ofsted team” the young woman raised an eyebrow before grinning at Osgood. “Thank you for helping to get them back, Godwin was gushing in his praise of a certain young scientist who spied on his department”

“He was lovely” Osgood pointed towards her office and headed towards it with Martha in tow. “I found some interesting papers he’d written, we’re working on adapting a bacteria variant he came across to try to create our own anti-plastic”

Martha closed the office door and sat in the visitor’s chair “You think the Autons will return?” 

“Hopefully not but it’s always handy to be prepared” Osgood cleaned her glasses. “Kate asked a team to look into the possibility that it can also be used to dissolve plastic waste, so fingers crossed we can get that to work as well” 

The women spent the next two hours bringing each other up to speed on their own projects. Martha felt that she’d found a kindred spirit in Osgood and decided to push the boundaries of their discussions. “So, Kate seems quite relaxed for someone who just hosted a lot of grumpy Americans”

“The UNIT General was more grumpy with his own military, so I think she was just letting him get it out of his system” Osgood smiled softly.

“Possibly, she seems more relaxed overall” Martha didn’t let the brunette off that easily.

“Really, I hadn’t noticed” Osgood guessed she was blushing but kept eye contact. “I didn’t realise you knew each other well” she pushed back a little.

“We’ve only met once before, over awful wine and inedible nibbles at one of the Geneva conferences” Martha replied and saw the slight relaxation of Osgood’s shoulders that suggested she’d just passed some kind of test. “The calls we’ve had over the last few weeks have given me a new appreciation for the changes she’s made in UNIT”

“It’s a work in progress but Kate will make it happen” Osgood nodded and pushed her dislodged glasses back up her nose. She was saved from having to decide how much to praise her girlfriend when her phone rang. She listened for several seconds before standing up. “Owen and Nigel have passed their medical tests, we can meet up with them in her office” Osgood waited for Martha to precede her out of her office. 

*********************************************

“Sergeant Douglas” Kate smiled at the young woman who knocked on the open door before stepping into the office. “We need to get Owen and Nigel settled into the hotel then take them shopping for the basics” Kate watched as Douglas’s eyebrow almost raised itself before the younger woman caught her reaction. 

“Ma’am” Douglas answered automatically. 

“It’s not a babysitting trip” Kate reassured her and the two young men. “These are our newest recruits and they’ve had a pretty grueling few weeks so let’s take care of them and protect them until we sort out who we need to shout at to make them safe again”

“Of course ma’am” Douglas was annoyed that she’d been read so easily by her boss, she’d spent many years schooling her features when talking to superior officers and Kate may not wear a uniform but she was definitely her commanding officer. “I’ll need a few other resources for close protection, I doubt anyone in M&S will be happy with me escorting them into the men’s changing rooms”

“Colonel Shindi has approved whatever resources you need, organise them as you see fit” Kate smiled at her and turned to her phone. “Report back to me in the morning,” she said to Douglas “You heard the doctor, you’re both to have some dinner and then rest as much as you can” she looked towards Owen and Nigel who both still looked shell-shocked where they were slumped in chairs. She returned to her phone as Douglas escorted the two men out of the room. “Stewart,” she said and listened as a message was relayed to her by the duty team. “Pass the information onto Central Command” she barked and returned to the report open on her desk.


	12. Chapter 12

Osgood looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, noticing the darkening under her eyes. “Do I look tired to you?” she asked Kate as she walked into the bedroom. “Look, I’m not imagining the black circles, am I?” she stood beside Kate’s bedside table and leaned forward.

Kate made a show of putting her book down, removing her glasses and carefully examining the brunette’s face. “If it means you get into bed properly then yes, you do look a bit tired” she quirked an eyebrow and waited to see if she had to make amends for her honesty.

“You have a one-track mind” Osgood grumbled as she walked around the bed and slid under the duvet.

“The only track my mind is running on is to sleep” Kate assured her, switching off her light and wriggling underneath the duvet as well. “Though I’m happy to make a small detour for snuggles” she whispered as Osgood put her own light out and moved towards the middle of the bed. “You look gorgeous, my love,” Kate said sincerely before kissing her. 

Osgood pulled back from the slow, gentle kiss and smiled at the blonde. “You’re biased,” she told her before leaning forward and kissing her with more intent. She pulled back as Kate turned her head to yawn mid-kiss. “OK, message received, let’s get some sleep” she kissed the end of Kate’s nose before moving to a more comfortable position.

“Sorry” Kate tried to apologise but now she’d started to yawn she couldn’t stop.”Love you” she managed between two particularly jaw-cracking yawns.

The insistent ringing of Kate’s mobile woke them both, the blonde automatically noting that the gap in the bedroom curtains still showed darkness outside. “Stewart,” she said before clearing her throat. She listened for several seconds before standing and running her hands through her hair.

Osgood groaned as she rolled over and switched on her bedside light. She hoped that this was something that Kate could resolve remotely and the fact that her own phone hadn’t vibrated into life yet suggested that this call wasn’t heralding anything too world-ending. 

“Which hospital?” Kate finally asked, glancing up to see Osgood getting out of bed and starting to pull together warm clothes for them to wear. “Ten minutes” she replied and threw the phone onto the bed. “Bugger” she rubbed her hands over her face before moving to pull on the underwear that Osgood passed her. “There was an attack at the hotel, not sure whether it was related to our guests or not” Kate started to explain before pausing as she pulled a base-layer then a sweater over her head. “Sergeant Douglas intervened and managed to neutralise two of the intruders but was shot by one who escaped”

“Gaby?” Osgood was taking a little longer to wake up than Kate and she shook her head to see if the rattle would settle her brain cells into another configuration that would retain and make sense of what she was being told. “Will she be OK?” she asked, tying her shoelaces and making sure she had her mobile and inhaler in her trouser pocket.

“Not sure, she’s in surgery and we’ve locked down the hotel and surrounding area” Kate finished dressing before turning to Osgood. “They need the Brigadier rather than a Lead Scientist,” she said softly. Not waiting to hear her girlfriend’s answer she moved to the small safe inside the cupboard and slipped on a holster before checking her weapon was loaded and safe.

Osgood sighed before turning back from the bedroom door. “You do what you have to do, I want to visit my friend in hospital,” she said quietly, aware that Kate could order her to remain at home but also knowing that this was unlikely even in the Evil-Kate dimension.

“Car’s downstairs” Kate nodded and followed the brunette, already scrolling through various messages on her phone. “Carter” she looked up and acknowledged the Captain as he held the car door for them. “Quick as you can, hospital first,” she said as soon as he was seated in the front passenger seat.

“Ma’am” the driver confirmed and pulled out of the driveway before switching to the flashing blue lights on the unmarked car. Once they were clear of the residential streets he used the siren, slowing down marginally as they barrelled through almost deserted streets in the middle of the night. “Two minutes ma’am,” he said quietly and picked up two motorcycle outriders as they cleared heavier traffic around the hospital.

Osgood hated being driven at speed, particularly when they were in the middle of the city. She held onto her seatbelt, trying to make sure she didn’t end up with a mark on her neck that everyone else would assume was a love-bite. That particular incident had ended up with them having one of their few arguments, the blonde finding it funny and suggesting a turtleneck sweater before she realised that Osgood was genuinely upset by the teasing. 

They both strode down the hospital corridor following the young man who had been waiting at the front of the hospital for them. “We’re secure on this floor?” Kate asked quietly, seeing some of the other rooms were occupied.

“We’ve taken over one end of the ward ma’am” he waited for her to walk beside him and lowered his voice. “We couldn’t clear the entire floor without compromising patient safety” he hoped he’d made the right decision and felt his burden slip a little as Kate nodded in agreement. “They should be bringing the Sarge back here pretty soon” he used an access card to get them through a set of doors.

“Well done Corporal” Kate stopped walking as she recognised several other members of her team placed strategically around the small, four-bed ward. The door buzzed behind them again and a team of nurses guided a bed into the ward. “Who’s in charge?” she raised her voice slightly after moving out of their way.

“Cartwright” a harassed looking young man stood in front of her. “You are?” he was annoyed at the arrogance of this government department, whoever they were, deciding to take over his ward.

“Kate Lethbridge-Stewart” she didn’t bother holding out her hand and only just avoided asking what age he was. “My Sergeant, how is she doing?”

“Bullet passed right through and managed to miss anything too important” he ran his hand through his hair, the floppy fringe choosing to settle on the other side from before. “There was a fracture to the scapula where the bullet exited and we removed the pieces of bone, she’ll need to be immobilised for a few weeks to allow it to heal”

Osgood had walked over to the bed once the nursing team had connected her friend to the various monitors. She picked up the folder from the end of the bed and scanned over the contents. “She lost a lot of blood?” she phrased it as a question although she had seen the notes on the units she’d been transfused with while in surgery.

“She did, as you’d expect with a gunshot wound” the doctor walked over and took the folder from Osgood. “This is a hospital, not an army barracks” he looked annoyed.

“Professor Osgood,” Kate said with just a hint of steel in her voice. She really didn’t have time for this nonsense. “Wait for Sergeant Douglas to regain consciousness and send me her report when she’s able”

“Ma’am” Osgood stood a little straighter, realising that Kate was using her title to remind the doctor that they weren’t civilians. “Will you head to the scene, Dr. Stewart?” Osgood decided that Kate should get the recognition as well.

Kate glanced up at the doctor who was now looking uneasily between them. “I’ll leave the troops here to secure this area, we’re under Protocol Four” she waited for the nod of understanding from the brunette before turning to the Corporal who had escorted them. “Jones, Osgood will remain here and gather information from Douglas when she comes round” she glanced down at her phone as it vibrated with another message. “Was anyone else injured?” she had noticed that he was favouring his left knee.

“We engaged with the assailant and managed to disarm him after he’d hit Sarge” he frowned. “He put up a bit of a fight but we’re no worse than a double session of unarmed combat with Captain Carter, ma’am” he assured her and tried not to shift too much weight onto his leg.

“Well done, and get that knee looked at before you leave here” Kate smiled at him before turning for the door. “Let me know when she wakes up,” she said softly. Osgood knew that Kate had asked as a friend rather than a commanding officer and nodded in agreement.

***************************************

“Colonel,” Kate said as she found Shindi behind a large table set up in the middle of the meeting room at the hotel.

“Ma’am, everything alright at the hospital?” he looked around to confirm that Osgood hadn’t accompanied her.

“Douglas came out of surgery just as we arrived” Kate nodded her thanks as she was handed a mug of coffee. “Everything seemed to go well, although her surgeon appeared to be twelve” she shook her head as Shindi smiled at her. “Os is waiting with her and the others seem to have the situation under control” 

“I just wish I had better news for you” he stretched his back and walked over to the urn to refill his own mug of coffee. “Everything we’ve found so far suggests that the attack was aimed at our people”

“Who was it and how did they know we were here?” Kate sank into a chair and stretched her legs out in front of her.

“Two bodies are ex Russian military so it could be retaliation for the Americans getting their hands on the assets first?” Shindi wasn’t convinced of this even as he said it.

“You don’t think so?” Kate sipped at the hot coffee and wished there was something to eat as well.

“It’s just all so simple” he pulled a folder towards him. “They made no attempt to hide their identity and even used Makarov pistols” he dropped the folder in front of Kate. “They may as well have been wearing Russian flags on their backs”

“But they were ex-military” Kate muttered as she scanned through the file they’d managed to compile on the two dead assailants. “So presumably open to freelance work if it presented itself?” she looked up at the Colonel.

“I think so, but I have no idea who’d want to hire Russian hitmen to kill two research students” Shindi sighed in frustration. “If they know something that earth-shattering they’re keeping it from us”

“Where are they now?” Kate asked, standing up and rolling her head to ease the tension.

“They’re with Dr. Jones” Shindi stood and walked beside Kate, stopping as she suddenly swore under her breath. “Kate?” he asked.

“Dammit” Kate pinched the bridge of her nose. “What if it wasn’t the two students who were the targets?” she walked briskly towards the door and followed the armed soldier who led them to the correct room. “Dr. Jones” she strode towards Martha and glanced around at the exhausted and frightened young men. “Apologies for the excitement this evening” she turned back to Martha. “Can we have a word?” she nodded to the bedroom of the suite they were currently using.

“Of course” Martha followed Kate into the room and turned to watch her as she closed the door softly. 

“What have you been up to recently?” she cut to the chase.

“Me?” Martha lifted her hand and placed it over her chest. “You think I was the target?”

“It seems unlikely that a Russian hit squad was sent out for two brilliant but nonetheless low-level scientists” Kate watched the young woman process the information. “So we’re left with two options, either there is someone else in this mid-range hotel who warrants that much effort or you’ve annoyed someone enough to make them spend money to get rid of you”

“I’m working on the research project, moving around to visit the various teams” Martha sat down on the edge of the bed. “I gave up pissing people off that much when I stayed on Earth” she shrugged.

“I’m sorry but I can’t think of anything else that even vaguely makes sense” Kate paced back and forth as Shindi leaned against the wall. “The other research projects, where are they based?” her mind whirred through possible scenarios.

Martha rested her elbows on her thighs and rubbed her hands over her face, it had been a long day for her as well. “There’s teams in Edinburgh, Paris, Pretoria, Bangalore, Queensland and Boston” she looked up in frustration. “Honestly this is the most complicated but least controversial thing I’ve worked on in decades”

“I know” Kate ran her hand through her hair. “Who could possibly want to stop a cure for MS?” she took two more steps before turning and staring at Shindi.

“It couldn’t be?” he asked his mind on going in the same direction as Kate’s. “What commercial therapies are available for MS right now?” he took out a small notebook and pen.

“What?” Martha asked tilting her head to one side as she suddenly figured out what he was asking. “Big Pharma is a conspiracy theory!” she sounded indignant.

“Except when it’s not” Kate tucked one hand into her jeans pocket and pointed at Shindi. “Although Martha’s right on this, there isn’t a commercially viable treatment that’s worth enough money to kidnap and murder for”

“So what about the edges?” he asked putting the notebook away again and glancing at the watch on his wrist to read the notification he’d received. “I need to go and deal with this” 

“Go, we’ll figure this out” Kate nodded and beckoned Martha to follow her back out to the main room. “Right you two, get your thinking caps on” she motioned to the two students, one of whom appeared to be asleep on a sofa.

Owen roused Nigel and they both sat on the sofa waiting to hear what the insane blonde woman wanted from them now. “Is there going to be any more shooting?” Owen asked, he’d been the first to hear the gunfire earlier and had watched Sergeant Douglas leave two of her men to guard them before heading out into the corridor. “Will Gaby be alright?” he swallowed nervously.

“She will, they operated on her shoulder and said everything would be fine” Kate paraphrased the last few hours. “We’re trying to understand who’s behind these attacks and Martha and I could use some help” she sat down in a chair across from them and waited for Martha to settle as well. “You’re both familiar with all of the research teams and the overarching progress that they were making” she waited for the redhead to nod agreement. “So, who would want the project to fail?”

Nigel blinked several times before shaking his head slowly. “Why would anyone want to fail?” he asked.

“I don’t mean any of the teams themselves, I’m sure Martha only chose the best to work on this” Kate smiled softly at the two men. “I mean someone outside of the team, taking a bigger picture view of the entire project” she waited for them to show some understanding of what she meant.

“Say, perhaps, if we were close to finding a cure for the common cold then the manufacturers of cough medicines or decongestants might not be too happy at their market disappearing overnight” Martha hoped the example would kickstart their brains.

“Oh right,” Owen nodded and turned to his friend. “Its like that game we played in the pub” he nudged him. “Remember?”

“Pub?” Kate felt a prickle at the back of her neck that was a sure sign that an answer was almost close enough to touch. “Tell me about the game” she sat back, trying to relax herself to help them relax as well.

Nigel yawned before blinking again “Sorry, right, the game…….yes” he shook his head one more time before his brain clicked into place. “It was one of Godwin’s department quiz nights and we’d won so the beer was flowing” he grinned apologetically at Martha. “Some guy at the bar was giving us a hard time for making so much noise and he basically said we were all wasters and what use were students anyway”

Owen took on the tale. “So we explained that without us the pub would have gone bust years ago and then everyone around the table was coming up with more and more reasons why the University was a good thing for the local area” he looked at Kate and saw her confusion. “You know the kind of thing: bookshops that sell something other than Harry Potter and John Grisham; sports grounds that have proper facilities; a ready supply of relatively cheap labour for most of the service industry….” he trailed off as Kate looked less impressed. 

“He looked as skeptical as you do right now” Nigel continued. “So we upped our game and moved onto what we were all studying” he yawned again and shivered. 

Kate waved one of the soldiers over “Can we get some more coffee and perhaps food with enough sugar to keep us all awake for another hour or so?” he nodded once and stepped away to talk into his radio. “Sorry, carry on”

Owen watched the interchange “Thank you” he said quietly. “You’ve been really kind” he had been angry when the Americans had dumped them into this woman’s lap but she’d been careful to make sure they were looked after and had offered them both jobs, although he wasn’t all that sure what they’d be working on yet. “This guy was being a real pain in the arse” he returned to their story, lifting his hand to his mouth as he realised what he’d said. “I’m sorry” he looked at Martha and Kate.

“We’ve both said much worse before breakfast” Martha assured him and waved her hand “Carry on”

“Right, so the physics team started telling him they were going to understand some fundamental law….blah, blah” he shrugged. “The guy just laughed at them and asked what use that was to him so the Astronomy girl talked about finding habitable planets and he laughed even more”

“And I guess we were a bit drunk and sort of hinted that the Biology department could discover the cure to something important” Owen took up the story. “And he just kind of shook his head while the other University teams decided to laugh at us instead”

Martha looked at Kate and saw her shrug slightly. “Did you see this man again?”

“No, he sat at the other side of the bar from us and the rugby team spent the next half hour taking the piss” Owen frowned and then winced at his choice of words again. 

Nigel elbowed him in the ribs and continued “To get back to the point” he waited for the soldier to put down a tray with coffee mugs and pastries on it. “Thanks” he smiled and took a large bite out of a Danish before washing it down with some coffee. “Sorry, so yeah the rugger team were asking how much of a difference it would make to the world if we cured ingrown toenails and then the Physics team switched sides again and started arguing that it would make a difference to chiropodists and nail clipper sales and it sort of went downhill from there”

“The rugby teams coming up with more ridiculous ailments and the scientists shooting them down” Owen looked slightly confused “Was that the kind of thing you meant”

“I assume they didn’t actually come close to guessing the target of our project?” Kate looked between the two young men and Martha.

“No, it was just silly stuff but there was this one time when one of the chemists said we should cure dislocated shoulders or something and the rugby team all cheered but then someone pointed out that we’d put the painkiller industry out of business” Owen slowed down, sounding unsure by the end of his wander down memory lane. 

“Martha?” Kate asked as she watched the woman staring off into space. “I’m not up on the latest drug treatments, is there anything that would only be used for this?” she was aware that she was avoiding naming the disease they were discussing and made a mental note to ask Martha whether the young men had been briefed since their return. “Excuse me” she stood and stepped back into the bedroom as her phone rang “Os?” she closed the door and walked over to the window, moving the curtain aside slightly to look out at a misty dawn morning.

“Dr. Stewart” Osgood winked at Gaby as she used Kate’s title again, smiling as the doctor looked up sharply when he heard who she was calling. “Sergeant Douglas is awake and responsive, the surgeons are pleased with her surgery” she waited for the doctor to finish updating the file and leave the room.

“What colour are the curtains in your room?” Kate asked drily, realising that she must have company if her report was this bland. 

“Pink” Osgood blew out a breath “OK, he’s gone again” she put the phone down on the bed. “You’re on speaker, it’s only our people in the room ma’am”

“Gaby, how are you feeling?” Kate knew that she must be well enough if Osgood allowed her to have this discussion.

“Like I’ve been shot and then given some really good drugs” Gaby grinned at Osgood before leaning slightly closer to the phone “Ma’am” she remembered and winced as she rested back on the pillows again.

“I could use some of them myself” Kate grinned and stretched her neck to release some of the tension she’d been carrying. “Glad to hear you’re on the mend, what do you remember about the attack?”

Osgood listened as the young woman slowly walked through what had happened at the hotel, laughing outright when she insisted that the Corporal who had accompanied them earlier came over to confirm what she was saying. When the yawns came ever more frequently she shook her head fondly and lifted the phone “Get some sleep, I’ll be back later today” she patted her good shoulder “Sorry Kate, she was fading fast” she explained and headed for the door. “Do you want me to come to you or head home?”

Kate pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed “I’m sorry, for earlier” she glanced around to make sure she was still alone. “Can you come to the hotel, we’re trying to figure out why anyone would want to kill Martha and I need your brilliant brain”

“Martha, did something else happen?” Osgood asked worriedly and sped up her walk down the corridor. “Give me a second” she didn’t wait for Kate to answer before catching up with the soldier who was walking her back to the main entrance. “I need to get to the hotel, can you get me some transport?” she waited for him to start organising the troops at the front entrance before lifting the phone back to her ear “Sorry, what happened to Martha?”

Forty minutes later Kate was placating the hotel manager and assuring him that they wouldn’t be staying another night and he could have his floor of rooms back, although she suggested he get some decorators in to cover over the bullet holes before he let the rooms to paying guests. She smirked as he paled and hurried off to call contractors. “Right, sorry, where were we?” she returned to the room where the four scientists were sitting around a table that was covered in different coloured post-it notes. 

“Everything on pink is directly linked to the current, regulated treatments” Osgood explained. “Blue is the more ‘out-there’ alternative treatments and green are the peripheral drugs”

“Not many green” Kate squinted through her dirty glasses before she huffed and cleaned them with the edge of her sweater

“Unless you want us to start taking drugs that’s the best we can come up with at….” Martha peered at her watch “4.30am”

“OK,” Kate pointed to the remaining post-it notes. “What’s in the yellow pile?”

“Peripherals that aren’t drugs” Osgood yawned.

Kate looked at the piles of paper surrounding them and the abandoned coffee mugs and plates of pastries. “Let’s gather these together and get everything moved to the Tower” she stretched her lower back. “The safest thing is for everyone to work from there until we figure this out”

“Infirmary?” Osgood guessed what Kate’s plans were.

“Sergeant” Kate nodded at Osgood and waited for the soldier to come closer than his position at the door of the suite. “Can you get everyone relocated back to the Tower, we’ll need all of this moved and the four of us will take the first SUV”

“Ma’am, you can move whenever you’re ready, we have your car waiting” he waved over another soldier and instructed him on what needed to be done to get everyone out of the hotel.

“Right, pack up your bags, hopefully for the last time” Kate waited for the young men to retreat to their room before turning to Martha. “We really can’t risk any civilian casualties so we’ll get you set up in the infirmary at the Tower, you can get a few hours sleep and we’ll finish up with this brainstorming once we’re all a bit more awake”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking with this one, I hope you've enjoyed the continuing adventures of Kate and Os with their UNIT and civilian supporting cast :)

Osgood settled her glasses again and took one more hit from her inhaler. Kate watched her nervous fidgeting and leaned towards the microphone “You’ll be fine, we’re right here” she murmured.

Osgood jumped a little in surprise then immediately felt some of the tension leave her shoulders. Putting her hand in front of her mouth, as if to push her glasses up again, she glanced around to make sure there wasn’t anyone nearby. “I know, I trust you, I think this is just my normal anxiety about spending time in a pub with a lot of people I don’t know”

Shindi put his hand on Kate’s shoulder and squeezed gently. “She’ll be fine, there’s no indication that they’re expecting to be arrested tonight” he glanced around the monitors in front of them. “Carter, make sure the perimeter is secure at the back of the beer garden” he watched a casually dressed couple wander towards the back of the beer garden as if they were wanting privacy. “Better,” he said gruffly and sat back in the chair. “It’s been a while since I’ve been stuck in the surveillance van” he tried to take Kate’s mind off the mission.

“Even longer for me” she acknowledged. Catching herself drumming her fingers she sat back and folded her arms. “At least we can remember seeing them”

“All too human, sometimes I think the aliens show more humanity than our own people” Shindi huffed out a breath before leaning forward and keying the microphone “Greyhound 2 is entering the pub, everyone on your toes” 

Osgood scanned the room and noticed one or two familiar faces but avoided acknowledging any of them. Finally, she saw the table of people she was meeting and headed towards them “Godwin, lovely to see you again” she permitted a brief hug.

“Osgood, I’m so pleased you could join us” her old boss greeted her and pulled out a chair next to him. “How have you been?”

“Busy, sorry I couldn’t visit before now” she arranged her jacket over the back of the chair and slid her messenger bag underneath the table. “Did you get a call from my colleague?” she leaned closer to ask the question, partly because of the ambient noise but also because she wanted to afford him some privacy if he wanted it.

“I did” he nodded and shuffled his chair a little closer. “They’ve asked me to get a research team together to begin work on the project again”

“I am glad, you should be able to attract some of the top students to a project like that” she turned as her name was shouted from nearby. “Paul” she smiled at the young man as he walked towards her. “Oh you’re a lifesaver” she thanked him for the pint he handed to her. Taking a sip she closed her eyes to savor the taste and settle the last of her nerves. The adrenaline of being in the middle of a mission always came as a surprise, she still expected to be almost paralysed by fear but several years of experience had given her an appreciation for the heightened focus that the hormone brought. 

“No Joshy tonight?” Paul sat down across the small table.

“Ah no, that was part of our cover” she knew it was ridiculous but could feel herself blushing.

“Oh so there’s a chance for me yet?” he sat up a little straighter and ignored the huff of amusement from his boss.

“I’m not sure my partner would agree” Osgood sipped from her glass again, trying not to imagine the growl of annoyance from Kate.

“He’s not here, no harm no foul” he winked in what he probably thought was a boyishly charming way.

“Whether she’s here or not……” Osgood let the sentence trail off and watched the pieces slot into place in his head. She heard Godwin laugh at his young lecturer’s misconception but was distracted by a warm hand dropping onto her shoulder. “We were just talking about you” she winked at Paul before tilting her head back to smile at Kate.

“Were you now?” Kate had heard every word the man had said and had only raised her eyebrow once but it was enough for Shindi to agree that the readings from the meter in Osgood’s bag were enough to bring the operation to its natural end. He had signaled the team to begin arresting the perpetrators in the beer garden before following Kate into the pub. “Sorry I’m late darling” she kissed the top of Osgood’s head before holding her hand out to the surprised Professor at her side. “Professor Evans, it’s nice to meet you again”

“Dr. Stewart?” the older man stood and automatically shook her hand. 

“Please, call me Kate” she demurred and looked around at the occupants of the bar, casually glancing at her strategically placed team. “Can I get another round?” she headed to the bar and placed an order for a couple of drinks. Pretending to answer her phone she gave the code word that placed everyone on a two-minute countdown. “Can I steal you away for a moment?” she rested her hands on Osgood’s shoulder as she directed the question at the older Professor.

“Of course” he smiled and followed her out the front door of the pub. “Kate?” he asked as they emerged onto a surprisingly quiet street, he had expected to find other pedestrians or traffic of some kind on a busy Friday evening. 

“Godwin” Kate gently placed her hand on his elbow, guiding him towards an SUV with blacked out windows. “I’ll explain everything later, please trust me”

He kept eye contact for several seconds before nodding and stepping into the back seat. “Is Osgood alright?” he leaned back out briefly and was relieved when she smiled and nodded in reply.

“Good to go,” she said into the hidden microphone on the collar of her jacket and watched as several people who had apparently been chatting on the street suddenly moved into action. This was the part of the operation that she hated when Shindi had persuaded her that she didn’t need to be at the forefront of the action for once. Waiting for everything to work out as planned was torture, even if it only lasted for a couple of minutes in this case. She let out a breath of relief when Osgood walked out of the pub door and grinned at her, holding up her thumb before handing over her messenger bag to a waiting soldier. “You alright?” she asked softly when the brunette was standing just over an arm’s length away from her.

“I’d rather have finished my pint but other than that it went off perfectly” Osgood rocked onto her toes before settling back down. “I really want to snog you right now but we have to go do the thing” she jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the line of people being handcuffed and passed up into a truck for transport.

“Raincheck” Kate smiled and walked back into the pub to thank the proprietor for his assistance. 

************

Professor Sir Godwin Evans sipped tea from one of the good china cups as Martha finished outlining the project that she’d been running for several years. “I knew you were an extraordinary woman but I had no idea…..” he trailed off.

“You can understand why we needed to use Martha’s project teams as cover?” Kate sat back in her chair, sipping her own tea and wishing it was a larger mug, it had been a long day. 

“I can see why you think it’s necessary” he conceded the point, if not the argument. “You could all be very wealthy if you ‘discovered’ this cure yourselves” he glanced around at the three very different yet inherently similar women.

“You’d be surprised how far we can stretch civil service wages” Kate smiled and waited for the laughter to die down. “I am sorry that we had to run the sting operation from your department but I can assure you that we never for a moment thought that anyone was in danger this time”

“We would have found another way” Osgood chimed in, worried that he believed they’d used the University staff as bait.

“I understand, these monsters needed to be stopped and I’m so glad you were able to find Owen and Nigel and return them to us” Godwin had missed his regular rugby discussions with the young Welshman and had been worried when the two researchers had disappeared. 

“They weren’t monsters, just a greedy young man who thought he could control the criminals he employed” Martha looked annoyed. “He spread the rumours about Russians asking questions around campus and was hoping to get the boys into trouble for sharing the research, the Americans putting them into protective custody was a bonus” they had all agreed that telling the Professor about the US overeagerness to kidnap UK citizens was a step too far. “When that didn’t shake loose the information he wanted he pushed his partners a little harder and they decided to clear me out of the way” 

Godwin had expected Martha to look troubled that she was the target of an armed attack but she just continued to look annoyed at the inconvenience. “I’m thankful they didn’t succeed”

“Me too” Kate sat up straighter, her back was grumbling and they were nearing the limit of what they’d agreed to share. “Once we put Martha and the young men under our protection, the presumptuous idiot thought that he’d only have to rifle through a couple of files to get the data he needed to publish the miracle cure himself and sit back to wait for the money and fame to pour in”

Osgood could see how angry Kate was and knew that the danger she’d inadvertently been in at the beginning of the undercover mission was playing a large part in stoking that anger. “He was cocky enough to believe that he’d be believed” she rested her hand on Kate’s forearm for a second. “Once we’d figured out that the issue lay with a terrestrial bad guy it didn’t take us long to join the dots on who’d been aware of the research”

“We made sure that some of the research papers from the other teams were delivered for the researchers’ attention and waited for him to take what he needed from them” Kate had recovered some of her equilibrium. “The papers were coated with a radioactive marker and Osgood picked up the trace at the pub”

“It’ll take a couple of days to get your head around everything” Osgood reassured him. “In the meantime, we need your help”

He nodded and looked around the meeting room table “What do you want from me?” he asked Kate while gesturing at Martha and Osgood “I’m sure you have more than enough expertise”

“We do” Kate agreed with a smile. “What you have though, and we don’t, is access to the youngest and brightest every year” she sat back and crossed her legs. “For the projects that Martha works on we partner with various Universities around the world, particularly when we want to muddy the waters a little about who came up with what”

“I can see how that would be easier with such a large project” he nodded.

“However, there are many small research projects that we’d like to keep closer to home” Kate glanced at Osgood.

“For instance the modified bacteria to break down plastic” the brunette carried on seamlessly from where Kate stopped. “We’d like you to work on this, and projects like it, with the fresh blood of new students every year”

“And that means you don’t need to tell them as much and hit them with the mind-wiper thing?” he checked that he understood her.

“Exactly” Osgood smiled at him and was about to explain more when Kate lightly touched her forearm.

“Sorry, we need to wrap this up fairly soon” she sat forward and met the older man’s gaze. “I think we have an understanding, and I appreciate that you’re prepared to go through the mindwipe”

“The knowledge of what you’re doing here, and around the world, was at the root of this sorry business” he shook his head. “Now that you’ve explained what happened and how Paul was mixed up in all of it I feel it’s my responsibility to pay back the trust he abused”

“You couldn’t have known” Martha reassured him and moved to sit beside him. “We’ve been doing this kind of thing for years and it took us two months to rule out extraterrestrials and narrow down the search to a greedy, selfish little man”

“She’s right” Kate stood, shooting her cuffs and settling her jacket more comfortably. “He’s not your responsibility and the money and fame he hoped to gain by getting rid of Martha and those young men were sadly all too terrestrial” she shook his hand and glanced at her watch again. “Don’t worry about the mindwipe, Osgood tells me she’s got it down to a fine art and can erase even a few hours without too much trouble”

Osgood sighed “Please ignore her Godwin” she rolled her eyes at Kate as the blonde tried to look repentant. “The procedure is painless and we can target the memories with pinpoint accuracy, trust me”

“I do,” he said softly and shook Kate and Martha’s hands before following Osgood down the corridor.

“Is the mindwipe really that sensitive?” Martha asked quietly as she walked with Kate.

“Os seems to think so” Kate shrugged. “I assume she’s carried out a lot of them to perfect the technique and I’m being very careful not to ask how often I’ve been her guinea pig”

Martha stopped walking and blinked rapidly to process what Kate had just revealed. “You mean you think you’ve had memories erased?” she caught up with the striding blonde. “But you’re the boss, what could possibly need to be kept from you?”

Kate acknowledged the soldier holding open the car door for her and waited until Martha was sitting next to her in the back seat. “MOD please, no great rush, it’ll do them good to wait for us for a change” she sounded a little annoyed but the driver nodded once and set out for Whitehall. She turned to Martha after several minutes “Sorry, the answer is that I don’t really know and I don’t want to dig too deeply because I must have agreed to it at the time” she hoped Martha would accept the answer at face value.

Martha watched the pedestrians as they drove through the busy traffic and licked her lips before looking at the woman beside her. “Which means Osgood knows and can’t or won’t tell you” she watched Kate’s head drop a little. 

“I know it’s happened at least once, but she doesn’t know that I figured it out” Kate glanced at her watch and sighed. “Please don’t tell her, she’s carrying this burden already and I don’t want to make it any worse”

“Of course” Martha nodded and briefly covered Kate’s hand with her own. “She is a remarkable woman, you’re very lucky”

“She’s saved the world several times, we’re all lucky she agreed to work with UNIT” Kate shrugged. 

“I didn’t mean UNIT, I meant you’re lucky…” she saw a slight tension in Kate’s neck but no other response. “You’re both lucky to have found someone to have adventures with, even if that’s just fighting over bacon rolls in the lab”

Kate smiled as the driver expertly slipped into a space outside the MoD building “Right, you ready to get another medal?”

Martha snorted and watched Kate walk around the car to stand beside her “My mum will be delighted to have something else to dust”

*********************************************

Osgood smiled at the guard who gave them entry to the Black Archive and showed some of the rarer artifacts to the Professor. “And this is the weapon from an alien life form called the Daleks” she carefully handed over the slightly bent gun. “One exploded in here and we managed to gather quite a lot of interesting bits and pieces during the cleanup”

Godwin handled the weapon as if it would discharge at any moment “I envy the knowledge you must have gathered but I don’t think I could live your life” he handed it back to her. “There is enough on Earth to satisfy my scientific curiosity”

“Mine too, I didn’t really mean to end up here” Osgood pushed her glasses up her nose and looked embarrassed. “It was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time” she stared at the floor. “And once I was in the wrong place but that’s still classified I’m afraid”

“When you’ve erased my memories, will you still visit occasionally?” he sat down in the chair she indicated, looking around at the empty space surrounding him and a small coffee table.

“Of course, I’ll pop in regularly to catch up on the project and maybe even a quiz night or two” she rested her hand on his shoulder before moving to a control desk. “Just relax and remember to keep breathing, there’s nothing to worry about” she smiled at him before flipping a switch and looking at the monitors in front of her.

************************************************

Kate grimaced as she rolled her neck, hearing pops and grinding. “Oh I forgot to tell you, Liz called” she raised her voice as she stretched her back and generated even louder pops and clicks from her joints.

“Everything alright?” Osgood came out of the bathroom and stopped to watch the blonde bending down to touch the floor. “With Liz I mean” she licked her lips and swallowed.

“Yeah, she’s fine” Kate mumbled as she slowly stood upright again before repeating the exercise. “The boys and Mel are free next weekend if we can make it along to a family brunch?” she finally stretched as far as she could before shaking her arms and legs. “You alright?” she noticed that Osgood hadn’t made it any further than two steps outside the ensuite.

“Uh huh,” the brunette cleared her throat. “Brunch sounds fine” she managed to get her legs to start moving again and settled into bed. “I have a bone to pick with you” she smiled and waved her finger at Kate as the blonde slid into bed beside her.

“What have I done now?” she asked good-naturedly.

“Martha sent me a photograph of you both at the awards ceremony today” Osgood turned onto her side, resting her head on her hand. When the statement didn’t get any response she gently poked Kate’s side. “You said that Martha was getting a medal but you got one too” 

“All I did was wear a skirt and some pearls” Kate complained while trying to evade the poking finger of ticklishness that Osgood had unleashed. “You and Josh did the hard work!”

Osgood lay back and rested her forearm across her eyes “Oh goodness, that skirt and blouse deserved a medal for outstanding sexiness” she groaned before peeking out under her arm to see Kate’s shake of her head. “Come here Brigadier and remind me of your medal-winning performance that night”

Kate growled before stopping the laughter from the brunette with a few well-placed kisses, then a few more.


End file.
